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Palliative care is an approach that improves quality of life of patients and their families facing problems associated with life threatening illness, through prevention of suffering by early identification, and impeccable assessment and treatment of, pain and other problems, physical, psychological and spiritual. The Centre for Palliative Care Research and Education (CPCRE) was established by Queensland Health to enhance palliative care services in Queensland through education and research.

Heavy menstrual bleeding is a common problem affecting one in four women of reproductive age, having a significant impact on their physical, emotional, social and material quality of life. Around 50% of women referred to secondary care for heavy menstrual bleeding experience severe or very severe pain, even when they do not have any uterine pathology.

Every December 1st is World AIDS Day and the theme in Queensland this year is “End HIV”. Progress against stemming the epidemic of HIV worldwide has been truly remarkable over the last 15-20 years.

Cervical cancer is one of the most preventable cancers and routine screening has played a vital role in significantly reducing the incidence rate since national screening began in the 1990’s. It's widely acknowledged that regular cervical screening is the best protection against cervical cancer. Still, every year around 800 Australian women are diagnosed with cervical cancer, 80% of whom have never been screened or have not screened regularly. Starting this December cervical screening in Australia will change to a more accurate and less frequent test.

CKN will be regularly featuring the work of clinicians from around the state. Today we speak with Justin Lee, Director of Medication Services Queensland.

Queensland hospital staff are exposed to serious physical and psychological risks, with more than 3,000 healthcare workers physically assaulted on the job every year. The frequency of violent incidents are increasing, and many more incidents are not reported.

Nursing is a round-the-clock job, and when other staff go home at 5 p.m. the night shift nurses are there with only their skills and colleagues to count on. The duties and responsibilities are no different for a nurse that works during the day or overnight, but shift work does present unique challenges. The workplace atmosphere and schedule at night require a significant adjustment to a nurse’s daily routine and personal life.

Melanoma is the least common but most serious type of skin cancer in Australia, and Queensland has the dubious honour of having more people die from melanoma than anywhere else in the nation. More than 3,600 people are estimated to be diagnosed with melanoma in Queensland every year (an incidence rate of 71 cases per 100,000). A recent Cancer Council Queensland study though shows that incidence rates for invasive melanomas have started to stabilise or fall.

CKN spoke with Matt Page, Principal Project Officer in the Telehealth Support Unit, part of the Healthcare Improvement Unit (HIU) in the Clinical Excellence Division. Matt is a regular user of CKN. We asked Matt to provide a bit of background about himself and for his thoughts about CKN.